Portable fountains with aerated



BEST AVAILABLE COP J. MATTHEWS.

APPARATUS FOR CHARGING PORTABLE EOUNTAINS WITH AERATED BEVERAGES.

Patented Sept. 13, 1.

(No Model.) 5 SheetsSheet 1 BEST AVAILABLE COP (No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. MATTHEWS. APPARATUS FOR CHARGING PORTABLE FOUNTAINS WITH AERATED BEVERAGES.

No. 246,967. Patented Sept. 13,1881.

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BEST AVNLABLE COP 5 Sheets--Sheet 3.

(No Model.)

J. MATTHEWS. APPARATUS FOR CHARGING PORTABLE FOUNTAINS WITH AERATED BEVERAGES. No. 246,967. Patented Sept. 13,1881.

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APPARATUS FOR CHARGING PORTABLE EOUNTAINS WITH AERATED BEVERAGES.

No. 246,967. Patented Sept. 13,1881.

5 Sheets-Sheet 5'.

Patented Sept. 18, 1881.

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" JOHN MATTHEWS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

APPARATUS FOR CHARGING PORTABLE FOUNTAlNS WITH AERATED BEVERAGES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 246,967, dated September 13, 1881.

' Application filed July 6, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: 1

Be it known that I, JOHN MATTHEWS, of New York, in the county and State 'of New York, have invented an Improved Apparatus for Charging Portable Fountains with Aerated Beverages, of which the following is'a specification.

Figu relisa perspective view of my improved apparatus for charging portable fountains with aerated beverages. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a side view of the tilting or balancing portion of the apparatus; and Fig. 4 is a plan or top view of said balancing apparatus. Fig. 5 is a similar view as Fig. 3, only showing the tilting apparatus in a difi'erent position. Fig.6 isa detail top view of the rock-shaft and its cranks and levers for operatin g the gas and water cocks that control the supply of gas and water to the portable fountain. Fig. 7 is a detail cross-section through said rock-shaft, showing the valve-operating cranks thereon. Fig.8 is a detail longitudinal section of the knife-edge pivot on which the balancing-platform is supported. Fig. 9 is a top view thereof; Fig. 10, a detail cross-section of the support and cover of said knifeedge pivot. Fig. ll is a vertical central section, on an enlarged scale, of the water-supply cock. Fig. 12 is a horizontal section thereof on the line cc, Fig. 11; Fig. 13, a horizontal section thereof on the line 0 7c,Fig. 11. Fig. let is a vertical central section of the gas-supp] y cock Fig. 15, a horizontal section on the line 75 Zr, Fig. 14; and Fig. 16,a horizontal section on the line q q, Fig. 14. Fig. 17 is a perspective view of one of the cooks placed on the storage reservoirs. Fig. 18 is a horizontal section thereof on the line It 1, Fig. 17. Fig. 19 is a vertical central section of the cock shown in Fig. 17. Figs. 20 and 21 are similar sections of modified forms of said cocks.

This invention relates to a new apparatus the exact quan tityof liquid and gas prescribed, no more nor less, and so that the valves that control the supply will be automatically closed the moment the prescribed amount of aerated liquid has been introduced into the fountain.

Hence the invention consists, first, in providing such apparatus with means for automatically closing the supply-valves. This I do by means of a balanced platform, upon one end of which the fountain to be filled is placed, and the other end of which is weighted. When the fountain has been charged to the desired extent its weight will overcome that of the platform, causing the same to tilt, and thereby to set in motion devices for closing thesupplyvalves.

The invention also consists in various details of construction and combination of parts for actuating said valves and for facilitating the movement of the fountain on and with the swinging platform. Thus, for example, the cranks or arms of the rock-shaft that is set in motion by the tilting platform are so set with reference to the gas and water supply valves that when the charging commences gas will first be let into the fountain, and afterward the water, so that the surplus gas may be driven out by the water. Again, the connection between the portable fountain and the storagereservoirs is, in part, flexible tubing, which permits the upand-down movement of the fountain. In orderto protectthistubingagainst .the tendency of the gas and water under pressure to straighten its curved portions on the princible of the Bourdon pressure-gage, which straightening would be liable to affect the balance of the fountain, these flexible parts are inclosed within curved jackets of rigid or other suitable material. These jackets keep the curved parts from being distended or straightened out by the pressure within the tubes, and at the same time do' not interfere with the proper movement of the tubes in theclosing of the supply-valves.

My invention also consists in a new construction and arrangement of cocks placed on the storage-reservoirs, and also in the method of charging fountains fromseparate storage-reservoirs, one of which contains gas and the other water, the water being under pressure greater than that of the gas, so that it may perform IOC all the other reservoirs, B, B and B 2 I p 246,967 BESTAVAlLABLE COP its function of ejecting the surplus gas from the fountain.

I shall now proceed to more fully describe my improved apparatus and process.

In the accompanying drawings, the letter A represents the generator, in which is evolved the carbonic-acid gas or whatever gas it may be desired to introduce into the portable fountain.

B, B, B and B arestorage-reservoirs placed on a suitable frame.

D E is the portable fountain to be charged.

Thegas-generator A connects by a pipe, a, with the reservoir B; but this pipe at is continued beyond the reservoir 13, as shown at a, a, and a so as to permit communication with At the junction of this gas-pipe with each of the reservoirs is a cock, F, of the construction more clearly shown in Fig. 17. This cock has four branches or tubes, as shown in Fig. 17, and represents in that figure more clearly the connection between the branch pipes e and a on thereservoir B. The pipe a joins the branch I). The pipe a joins the branch 12 of said cook. The downwardly-extending pipe I) of the cock connects with the reservoir B and the upwardly-extending branch I) connects with the gas-pipe G, that leads to the fountain E to be filled. The valve proper, d, is placed in an inclined or oblique position into a tubular extension ofthe cluster of branch pipes, as shown in the sectional view, Fig. 19, and prevents or establishes communication between the pipes a a and the storage-reservoirB, but can never be used to intercept communication between the pipe 0. and a or between either of them and the pipe G. The inclined or oblique position of the valve (1 permits this arrangement, as will be clearlyapparent from an inspection of Fig. 19, and is preferably constructed with an inclined valve-seat, as shown. In Fig. 21 is shown the construction of this cock without the npwardly-extcnding branch 11 it being in every other respect the same as that shown in Figs. 17 and 19 This construction is advantageously used on the reservoirs B and B. The device shown in Fig. 17 also shows the cock used to connect the pipe a with the reservoir B, with the exception that on the reservoir B the branch b will be omitted, the pipe a connecting with the branch b the pipe a, with the branch b and the reservoir with the branch I)"; The pipe at has also a separate cook, a, to throw the generator A into or out of com munication with the reservoirs.

The cock shown in Fig. 20 is a modification of that shown in Fig. 17, and shows merely an additional branch, I), which may lead to a gage or to another fountain, if desired. The reservoirs B B B B are also connected with each other by a further system of pipes (marked 0, e, and 0 which, where they connect with the said reservoirs, are coupled to cocks F of the construction already described; and the cock F, joining such pipes e c" on one of the reservoirs for example, the reservoir Bconnects by a pipe, H, with the fountain E to be tilled. The pipe H, however, can at any time be put in communication with either of the other reservoirs, B or B, by simply setting the valves (1 so as to establish the requisite connection.

In use, and for the pn rpose ot' tilling the fountain E, I prefer to till the reservoir 13 with gas,

a and the other reservoirs, 13, B and B, with water, and 1 charge the gas-reservoir l) to a pressure of, say, 150, while I charge the other reservoirs to a greater prcssure-say 100 The charge of the reservoirs 1-3 B 1-3 with so much gas as is needed to obtain the necessary pressure is made from the generator A through the pipe a and its branches.

The pipes G and II lead to a stationary frame, I, into the upper end of which they are secured, as shown, by certain couplings, J and M, and from each of these couplings aflexible pipe extends to the fountain E. In Fig. 1 is clearly shown a flexible pipe, G which is the continuation of the pipe G, and a, pipe, H which is the continuation of the pipe H. These two flexible pipes connect with the fountain E by a clamping device, T, of the construction set forth in my application for a patent therefor, which was tiled on the 14th dayot' February, 1881. (SerialNo.26,039.) Such clamping device T therefore does not make part of the present invention. In Figs. 11 and 14: are shown couplings that join the said flexible pipes, respectively, to the rigid supply-pipes. ThccouplingJ (shown in Fig.11) isan l -shaped pipe, which, where it passes through thctnpper board of the frame I, is made square, as shown in Fig. 12, or otherwise shaped to prevent it from turning. The vertical branch of this couplingpipe J connects with the pipe II. Its horizontal branch connects with the pipe H At thejunction ot'these two branches is the seat for avalve, L, that seats itself from above and closes communication between the pipes H and H whencverit is allowed to drop upon its seat, as shown in Fig. 11.

The eouplingpiece M (shown in Fig. 14) is intended to connect the gaspipc G with the flexible pipe G and is in every respect substantially of the same construction as the piece J already described, containing, also, a valve, N, which, when in itslower position, prevents communication between the pipes G and G The stems of the valves L and N extend downward below the couplingpipes, and are grasped between suitable shoulders j" and g by the forked arms of the operating-cranks IL and i, that are rigidly fastened to a rock-shaft, O, that is hung in the frame I. This rock-shaft has also a projecting handle or lever, j, which, when moved downward, causes the cranks h and ito pull the valves L and N shut, but which, when moved upward, pushes said valves open. The cranks 7t and 2'- are so placed upon therock-shaft O that the valve N will be opened before the valve L is opened, so that the fountain' E may first be charged with gas and after IIO ward with water. Fig. 1 shows the relative positions of these cranks on the rock-shaft. The cranks can be readily adjusted to the desired angle on the shaft 0.

The fountain E is placed upon a platform, P, which is pivoted in the lower part of the frame I by a knife-edge pivot, l, or in any other suitable manner. That end of the platform P upon which the fountain E is not to be placed is weighted, as shown at min Figs. 1,3, and 5. The knife-edge pivot l, which rests on a supporting-bracket, a, that is rigidly secured in the frame I, as shown in Fig. 8, is by preference made at the ends ofa metallic bar, 1 that is bolted to the platform P; and above the said bar I prefer to secure to the frame I a stationary cap, 1), which prevents dust and other impurities from reaching the knife-edge pivot and interfering with the exactness of the motion of the platform P. From the platform P, on the same side of the pivot l on which the fountain E stands, project upward posts or standards 1, which are braced by suitable braces, s, or otherwise made rigid, and which move up or down on the tilting platform the same as the fountain E. These posts serve to hold in place a crook or pusher, t, (shown in Fig. 1 and by dotted lines in Fig. 5.) Against the end of this crook or pusher is placed, in a slightly-inclined position, a weighted lever, B, which is pivoted in the frame I at u, and which carries at its face a friction-roller, w. This frictionroller, when the lever B is raised into the position shown in Fig. 5, isjust beneath the leverj, holding it up, and holding thereby the valves L and Nopen. As the fountain E is becoming filled its weight increases, and when it has been completely charged its weight exceeds that of the counter-weight m, where upon the fountain E will descend, causing the platform P to swing and the crook t to push against the raised lever B, causing said lever, under the influence of its weight w, to drop into the position which is shown in Fig.3, and thereby taking the supporting-wheel 20 away from under theleverj, and allowing said lever, which is also, if desired, weighted at its free end, to drop and swing the rock-shaft O. This motion of the rock-shaft lowers the cranks h and mud closes the valves L and N.

The framing 9' s, that extends upward from the platform P, may, if desired, be provided at or near its upper portion with an outwardlyprojecting graduated arm, '1 from which a sliding weight, 2, is suspended, so that by this means the apparatus may be adjusted to suit heavier or'lighter, larger or smaller, fountains that are placed upon the platform, and also to regulate with great nicety the specific amount of liquid and gas with which the fountain is to be charged.

Theflexiblepipes G H that extend from the couplings J and M to the clampT, pass'through curved metallicjackets or pipes S, which prevent them from becoming straightened under the influence of the pressure of the gas. These metallic pipes or jackets are preferably suspended by suitable springs, (P, from a projecting arm of the frame I, so as by this connection not to interfere with the freedom of movement of the pipes G2 and H in the act otcoupling and uncoupling any portable fountain.

The operation is as follows: Supposing the reservoirB to be charged with gas at a pressure of about one hundred and fifty pounds, and the reservoir B to be charged with carbonated water to two-thirds its total capacity, the remaining third being filled with compressed gas, which serves by its elastic force to discharge the water through the pipe H, which extends to the lower part of the reservoirs, and is open at its lower end to receive the water at a pressure of about one hundred and sixty pounds-art any rate at a pressure in excess of the gas-pressure in reservoir B- the gas-pipe Gr being in communication with the coupling M, and this in turn with an empty fountain, E, placed on the platform P, and the water-pipe H likewise in communication with that fountain, and the lever R to be still in its lower position, which is shown in Fig. 1, the attendant, as soon as charging is to begin, raises the lever B into the position shown in Fig. 5, thereby rocking the shaft 0 and lifting first the gas-valve Nand afterward the watervalve L. It takes but a moment to charge the the fountain E with gas from the reservoir B.

Hence, by the time the water-valve L is opened the fountain E is already charged with gas at a pressure of aboutone hundred and fifty pounds to the square inch. water under greater pressure now enters the fountain E and displaces the gas to the desired extent, causing it to travel back to the reservoir B through the pipe through which it came until the fountain is heavy enough to cause the platform P to tilt and the valves L and N to be shut. The fountain can then be properly uncoupled from the pipes G H and replaced by another.

All the reservoirs may be charged with carbonated water at one pressure and setat a suifi cient elevation above the portable fountain. The portable fountain may then be charged with gas from the top of the reservoirs, and the carbonated beverage will flow into the fountain by gravity from the bottom of the reservoirs and displace the gas, which will fiow back to the top of the reservoirs, as more fully shown in my Letters Patent No. 243,148, dated June 21,1881.

When one of the water-reservoirs is empty another is put in communication with the pipe H. The empty reservoirs are tilled during the time that the full reservoir is being used for charging fountains. Thus the apparatus may be used continuously.

I claim- 1. The cock I, constructed with three or more tubular branches, I) b b, and with the inclined or obliquely-placed valve (Z, facing an oblique valve-seat, all arranged so that by said The carbonated IIO BEST AVAlLABLE cot valve communication with only one' of said branches can be shut oh" or established, as de scribed.

2. In a soda-water apparatus, the combination of the gas-reservoir B and water-reservoir B with the gas-pipe G- G and water-pipe H H and-with the fountain E to be charged, all arranged for operation substantially as herein shown and described.

3. The combination of the charging-reservoir B B and connecting-pipes G G and H H with the fountain E to be charged, and with the pivoted weighted platform P, upon which the fountain E is placed, substantially as specified.

4. The combination of the tilting platform P, having the projection t thereon, with the weighted lever It, rock-shalt 0, having leverj and cranks h and i, and with the valves L and N, all arranged for operation substantially as specified.

5. The combination of the fountain E with the tilting platform P and with the supplypipes G and 11, having valves L and N, all arranged so that when the fountain is full and weighted the said valves will be automatically closed, substantially as specified.

(3. The combination of the elastic pipeJG, which connects the pipe G and fountaiin I), with thcinetallic curved jacket S, substantially described.

7. The combination of the tilting; platform P, adapted to receive the fountain E, and provided with the projection t for closing the valves L N, with the projecting graduated arm yand weight 2, substantially as specified.

S. The combination 0tthe tilting platform P and mechanism, substantially as described, for automatically closing the supply-valves with the flexible connectingpipes (i 1-1 curved metallic jackets S S, and suspensionsprings d substantially as specified.

9. The platform 1?, provided with the crossbar 1', formed into knife'edge pivots l at its ends, in combination with the supportingbraclrets n and covering-shield 12, substantially as described.

JOHN int'r'rnnws.

Witnesses:

F. MATTHEWS, JOHN D. WILsoN, 

